BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A local group of advocates has taken their concerns about bike safety to the streets.
Safe Streets for Bellingham recently planted dozens of yellow yard signs across the city, specifically in locations where someone was hurt or killed in a bicycle or pedestrian accident.
According to WSDOT’s Crash Data hub, there have been 20 fatal pedestrian and bicycle crashes in Bellingham over the past 10 years.
Safe Streets is proposing a handful of changes for over 12 miles of what they consider priority roads. Those suggestions include installing more painted posts in existing bike lanes and converting on-street parking to new bike lanes.
A second phase of Safe Streets’ proposal would get neighborhoods to adopt a “Slow Streets” initiative, modelled off of a similar program in San Francisco.
If implemented, individual neighborhoods could determine areas where speed limits are lowered to encourage more pedestrian and bicycle use.
Safe Streets notes that while city officials greenlit master plans for bike and pedestrians in 2024, they believe more work can be done in a shorter amount of time to reduce additional accidents.
